Automatic loom battery



July 8; V1958 s.y A. WEAVER 2,842,165

AUTOMATIC LOOM BATTERY Filed Oct. 21, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ze 20 ,f |48 We 02 kamqao \2\ 266 A ma Jy 2 ATTORNEY July 8, 1958 s. A. WEAVER 2,842,165

AUTOMATIC Loo||| BATTERY INVENTOR. STERUNG ABERNETHY WEAVER ATTORNEY United States Patent AUTOMATIC LOOM BATTERY Sterling Abernethy Weaver, Shelby, N. C.

Application October 21, 1955, Serial No. 542,062

9 Claims. (Cl. 139-245) This invention relates to looms having an automatic transfer mechanism and more particularly to an automatic battery which eliminates the conventional battery and the operation of manually filling the battery with full bobbins.

`The present battery of a loom includes a thread guide and bobbin disks which holds full bobbins or quills in radially spaced relationship and which is filled by hand. When the feeler mechanism indicates that the yarn on the bobbin in use is almost exhausted, the automatic transfer mechanism is actuated which causes the transferrer arm to remove a full bobbin from the bobbin disks and place the full bobbin in position in the shuttle, thus ejecting the empty bobbin. The bobbin disks are then rotated to place a full bobbin in position above the shuttle box preparatory to the next transfer operation. It is well known that this means for positioning full bobbins can accommodate only a certain number of bobbins and that if the battery were made larger that it would become so awkward that it would not be practical to use. It is necessary therefore to ll the disks relatively often by hand occasioning many trips from the lling Winder to the looms and use of awkward means such as quill boards for carrying the quills.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to eliminate the conventional manually lled battery on a loom and provide a mechanism which will contain a relatively large number of quills in stacked relation and which will automatically place a full quill in position to be substituted for the empty quill.

It is another object of this invention to provide a box of stacked filling quills which is taken from a filling Winder or the'like and placed on a sliding carriage, the sliding carriage working intermittently to take quills one at a time from the filling box and place same over the shuttle for transfer.

Another object of this invention is to provide an air suction device for picking up the ends of yarn from the quill which is positioned for transfer and holding the ends in position as they would normally be held by the filling guide so that the transfer operation may be carried out in a conventional manner subject to the improvements already mentioned.

I accomplish these and other objects of my invention by yproviding an automatic battery for a loom, having automatic transfer mechanism, including a frame mounted on the transfer end of the loom, a quill box or hopper adapted to maintain a relatively large number of bobbins in stacked relation, said hopper being mounted on theframe. Means for normally maintaining a full bobbin in position to be transferred are also provided together with means which are actuated in response to the automatic transfer mechanism to move said means, subsequent to the new bobbin being ejected, to a position beneath the hopper so that a full bobbin may be dispensed from the hopper and received by said means and return said means to its normal position awaiting anotherptrans- 2 fer. A traversing suction nozzle is also provided to positlon the end of yarn from the full bobbin for transfer and to suck up the waste end after transfer.

While some of the objects of the invention have been Y ponted out above, others will become apparent to those skilled in the art of weaving when the specification is read in connection with the accompanying drawings which describe a preferred embodiment of my invention and in which: f

.Fig. 1- is a perspective view, with parts omitted and parts broken away, showing my automatic battery and the various drives associated therewith, and

Fig. 2 is an enlarged front view, with parts omitted and parts broken away, showing my automatic battery associated with the loom, and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially alongthe line 3--3 in Fig. 2, with parts omitted and parts broken away, and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view similar to Fig. 3, showing the various parts in dierent position.

The major elements of my invention include a frame, broadly designated at 10, which is mounted on the transfer end of the loom, broadly designated at 12, at about the same level at which the transfer mechanism is dis-I posed. This frame 10 supports a hopper or lling box 14 which maintains bobbins or quills in stacked relation and in parallelism with the bobbin contained in the shuttle of the loom. A full bobbin 16 is normally maintained in the chuck mechanism broadly designated at 18 in a position directly above the bobbin contained in the shuttle,

`when in transfer position, so that a transfer operation may take place without further adjustment of the position of the full bobbin. Suitable drive means broadly designated at 20 are provided for moving the chuckA means 18 to a position directly beneath the filling box 14 after a transfer operation has ltaken place so that (see thev front portion thereof being disposed at about the` same level as the transfer mechanism and sloping' slightly upwardly toward the rear. The frame 10 generally consists of a pair of parallel angle irons 22 and 24 which form track or rail members. These track,members 22 and 24 are bridged by the support member 26 which isV suitably secured at its end to the members 22 and 24 respectivelyas by welding. A pair of vertical member 28 and 30 position the rails withrespect to the rear of the loom 12 and are secured thereto as by Welding; The vertical members 34 and 36 respectively position the front end of the frame 10 with respect to the front portion of the loom 12. A pair of channel members 38 and 40gare secured to the rails 28 and 30, respectively, so that the flanges thereof face inwardly and the rails are bent upwardly toward the front in the medial portion thereof as at 38a and 40a.

`It will be noted that the lling box 14 has vertical sides 14a and downwardly converging bottom portions 14b and 14e. Itwill be noted that the portions 14b and 14e forman open bottom through which the quills 1'6` may be dispensed. If desired the open bottom'could be kprovided with a removable cover (notshown). The

quills116 are positioned in parallelism with the quill in the shuttlev so that they need only be moved forwardly Patented July 8, 1958 in order to be placed in position for transfer. The quill box 14 is removably positioned on brackets 42 and 44 which are provided with resilient clip portions 46 and 48 to confine the quill box therebetween.

It will be noted by reference to Fig. 3 that means are provided in the form of a sliding carriage broadly designated at 50, to permit the dispensing of a quill 16 from the filling box 14 and to carry the means 18 for positioning the bobbin for transfer. The sliding carriage 50 includes a carriage frame consisting of a pair of angle irons 52 and 54 positioned to slide on the rails 22 and 24 respectively, and transverse supporting members 56 and 57. A sliding platform broadly designated at 58 serves as a bottom for the quill box 14 and is mounted for sliding motion on the guides 60 which are suitably fixed to the frame members 52 and 54. The platform 58 consists of a cover element 62. A forward transverse supporting member 66 supports a forw-ardly projecting platform 68 which receives the bobbin when dispensed from the filling box 14. It will be noted that the platform 62 is normally positioned to cover the opening in the bottom of the filling box 14 by virtue of the spring 70 which is connected on one end to a transverse support member 72 and on the other end to a connecting link 74 which is suitably secured on the other end thereof to the platform 62. It will be noted that the transverse frame member 26 serves as a means for limiting the forward motion of the platform 62 (see Fig. 3).

Figs. l and 3 show the positioning of the parts just prior to the commencement of a transfer operation when the transferrer ejects the full bobbin 16 from the chuck mechanism 18. A link 84 urges an arm 86, which is suitably pivoted as at 85 (on the loom frame not shown) causing the rotation of the rod 88. This rotation of the rod 88 causes the depression of the lever 90 which in turn pushes a finger 92 downwardly causing a hook 94, to which the finger 92 is fixed forming a portion of a bell crank arrangement with the hook, to be raised at its free end; the ybell crank arrangement being pivoted within a stationary block 96 which is fixed to the rearward bottom portion of the sliding carriage 50 as by welding.

It will be noted, particularly by reference to Figs. l and 3 that the hook portion 94 will remain in raised position by virtue of the link 92 being held in downward position by the resilient catch element 98 which is secured to the frame member 22. It will be noted that when the hook element 94 is thus raised that a protuberance 99, which is carried by the chain 100 which is driven in a counter-clockwise direction in Fig. 3 as will be described further below, will engage the hook portion 94 causing the entire sliding carriage 50 to be pulled rearwardly. This motion continues until, as is shown in Fig. 4, the direction of movement of the hook element 94 reverses passing around the rear sprocket 102.

It will be noted that a sliding block 104 which is carried between the rails 38 and 40, and which is normally positioned between the upturned portions 38a and 40a, will begin a rearward movement by virtue of the catch arms 106 engaging catches 108 carried by the carriage frame members 52 and 54. The block 104 is positioned on brackets 110 Which are mounted suitably for movement on the rails 52 and 54 as by wheels 112. It will also be noted that the latch arm 106 is pivoted on the brackets 110 at one end and a free catch end is provided at the other to engage the catch 108.

It will be noted, by reference to Fig. l, that the chuck arrangement, broadly designated at 18, is carried by the sliding carriage 50 and is positioned adjacent the front end thereof. The chuck consists of a head stock end which is provided with a suitable friction disc 122 (Fig. 2) into which the butt of the bobbin is positioned. The tail stock consists of a chuck element 124 which is normally urged into engagement with the tip of the bobbin by the springs 126. It will be noted that the tail 4 stock end 124 is provided with a shaft 128 which extends slidably through the rail 54 and a block 130 secured thereto and that a disc 132 is secured on the free end thereof.

As the sliding carriage 50 moves rearwardly the disc element 132 will follow a cam 134 which is pivotly mounted, in about the medial portion thereof as at 136, on a projection 138 which is suitably secured to the frame member 24. The cam surface 134 is normally urged into the position shown in Fig. l by the spring 140 which is secured to the frame member 24 at one end and to the cam element 134 on the other. It will y be noted that when the disc 132 passes the pivot point 136 that the cam 134 will be aligned with the projection 142 which is in turn secured to and aligned with the track 24.

Referring now particularly to Fig. 4, it will be noted that a quill 16 has been received within a space 144 defined by the carriage support 57, the projecting platform 68 and the sliding block 104. lt is thus noted that the tail stock has been cammed out of the way so that the chuck 18 will -be in a position to hold the bobbin 16 as the sliding carriage moves forwardly again, by virtue of the hook 94 passing around the sprocket 102, so that the disc 132 will pass the pivot point 136 and off of the cam 134 so as to engage the tip of the bobbin 16.

After the sliding block 104 has performed its useful function in limiting the forward motion of the bobbin 16 until the chuck 18 could grasp and position same, the counter balance 146 causes the sliding block 104 to be withdrawn to position shown in Figs. l and 3 between the rails 38a and 40a. The counter balance 146 is secured by a pair of suitable ropes or wires 148, which pass over a suitable support 150 and around antifriction means in the form of pullys 152 which are rotatably mounted on a support 154 which is connected adjacent its ends to the track elements 38a and 40a, to the sliding block as at 155.

Referring again to Fig. l, it will be noted that, upon the transfer mechanism replacing the empty bobbin in the shuttle 151 by the full bobbin 16, shown positioned over the shuttle preparatory to transfer, the chain 100, which is constantly driven, around the sprocket 102 adjacent the rear end thereof and around the sprocket 153 adjacent the` forward end thereof, serves as means to impart intermittent motion to the sliding carriage 50. The sprocket 153 is driven by the shaft 157 which is in turn driven by the pully 156 which is driven by a belt 158 which is driven off the pully 160 lixedly mounted on the shaft 162. The shaft 162 is driven by the pully 164 which is also fixed to the shaft 162 by the belt 166 which is in turn mounted on the shaft 168 and driven by the pully 170. The shaft 168 is the loom crank shaft and the pullys 172 and 174 are also fixedly mounted thereon. The shaft 162 and the pullys and belts associated therewith form part of a speed reduction means which could assume any desired form such as a worm drive equally as well as the form shown.

The pully 174 drives a belt 176 which in turn drives a pully 178 which is fixedly mounted on a shaft 180 to turn same. The shaft 180 carries a friction element 182 which is positioned thereon in alignment with a friction element or disc which forms the head stock 120 of the chuck assembly 18. As the chuck assembly 18 is traveling forwardly, as described above, carrying a new bobbin the friction element 182 contacts the friction disc 122 of the chuck assembly 18 and imparts rotation thereto. This causes any loose ends which might be hanging down from the full bobbin to be frictionally engaged by the brush 184 which is mounted on a bracket 186 which is in turn suitably secured to the loom as by welding. This causes the loose ends to be tightly wound on the new bobbin preparatory to the transfer operation.

is suitably mounted `on the loom 12. :It will be notedv that the lever is held in forward position by its engagement with a notch 202 in the bracket 204 which is suitably secured to the rail 24 as by welding.

Referring now to Fig. 1, it is noted that the pully 172 drives -a belt 206 which continuously drives ,the clutch element 208 which is rotatably mounted on the shaft 210. The shaft 210 is rotatably mounted in bearing stands 212 which are suitably mounted (not shown) on the loom 1l2. The cone pully 214, which is keyed to the shaft 210 at 215, controls engagement .of the clutch element 208 responsive to rotation of the rod 196 which,r

through the nger 196a carried by the offset arm 196b, slides the cone pully on the shaft 210 to the leftl in Fig. 2 to cause engagement.

An inner peripherial surface 20811 of the clutch element 208 is engaged by a clutch plate 216, when the clutchplate is urged thereagainst by the link 218. The.

clutch element 216 is fixed to one end of the link 216a which is pivotally connected on the other end thereof to the hub of the clutch element 208. The link 218 is xedly connected on one end thereof to the clutch plate 216 and the other end is adapted to engage the conical surface of the cone pulley 214 in sliding contact. `It is to be noted that the link 218 is urged toward the inner peripherial surface 208a by the sliding of the cone pulley 214 to the left in lFigure 2. The spring 216C normally holds the plate 216 out of contact with' the inner surface 20811. v

VThis engagement by the clutch plate 216 produces rotation of theshaft 210 since the clutch element 208 is constantly driven by the belt 206. It is notedby reference to Fig. 2 that a pully 220 is positioned adjacent the left hand end of the Shaft 210. This pully drives a belt 222 which in turn drives a pully 224 which throughI the shaft 226, which is suitably mounted in the support 228, drives a friction wheel 230 which imparts rotation to the friction disc 122 of the chuck mechanism 18.

A pully 232 is positioned adjacent the right hand end of the shaft 210 and drives a belt234 which in turn drives a pully 236. The pully 236, through the shaft 238,l drives a sprocket 240 on which a chain '242.is positioned. The lchain 242 passes around idler sprockets 244 and 246 which are rotatably mounted on stub shafts 24411 and 246e which are carried by horizontal frame member 248 and the vertical frame member 250 respectively.

The nozzle 21 is attached to the chain 242 by a link chain 252 which is joined on one end to the nozzle as at 2,54 'and on the other end to the chain as yat 256. The nozzle 21 is slidably positioned as at 258 on the rail 260 which is rotatably supported adjacent its Aends in a projection 24811 from the support 248. It will be noted that the -rail 260 is resiliently urged in a counterclockwise direction as seen in Figs. 3 and 4 by the `coil springs 26051. This forces the suction end of the nozzle 21a downwardly against the guide rail 262 which is xedly positioned in a support 264 projecting from the supporting member 248. It will be noted that the left hand end of the nozzle rail 262 is bent inwardly as at 262a so that the nozzl-e will be closely adjacent the new bobbin 16 when moved into that position so as to grasp the free end of the yarn Y as shown in Fig. 2 to position same by passing the yarn over la projecting guide 266, which projects from and is suitably secured to the railv 24, in ra similar position as the yarn guide inv a conventional battery would position the yarn.

`It will be noted that the chain 242 carries a protuberance 268 which is adapted to engage the link 270 which is pivoted on one end at 272 .(but limited in itat-l downward movement) to a vertical support F274 carried by the support 248. A link 276 is pivoted as at 278 -on the -free end of the link 270 so that the link 276 de-- pends therefrom and so that when the lever 270 is raised a catch 276:1 will engage the lever 190 to free same from` a slot 202 and permit the disengagement of the clutch element 216 by the appropriate turning'of the rod 196.4 It will be noted that the chain 152 permits considerablej lost motion so that the nozzle 21 may remain stationary| while the clutch mechanism 216 is being disengaged and4 more important a period of dwell adjacent the full bob-y bins 16 so `that the end Y may be caught as the bobbin is being turned by the friction disc 230. An air .hose 280 is secured to any suitable source of suction which is not shown. This source of suction may consist of a cenf` tral system or of an individual Isystem for each loom.

lIt will be noted that when the new bobbin 16 has been.

brought forward to position to bek transferred that the hook element 84 must be disengaged `from the. chain 100. The hook element is shaped so as to confine the.y projection 99 on the `chain 100 except on one side asv at 94a. This opening 94a permits the hook element 94 to drop olf to the protuberance 99 when the chain has moved around the -sprocket 152 and has moved the sliding carriage 50` into its ultimate forward position. It Iwill be noted that a slot 94b provides lost motion for this purpose and provides a brief period of dwell when bobbin is over brush 184 since forward motion of carbattery and extending toward the back of the loom. A; filling box with an opening in the bottom is located over the sliding carriage which allows full quills to feed through the opening in the box and into the chuck -device which holds the quill and carries same to transfer position over the shuttle. The air hose pipe laridnozzle attachment traverses the length of the quill and grasps the length of yarn from the quill and carries it to the approximate position of a .conventional run on a rotary battery. The nozzle huc'ks up the waste after the .transfer operation has taken place. t

While a preferred embodiment of my invention has been described using specic terms, such descriptionis yfor illustrative purposes only, and it is to be understood that changes and variations may be made withoutdeparting from thejspirit or scope of the invention as defined by the prior art as set forth in the following claims.

I claim as my invention: j l Y 1. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a frame mounted on the transfer end of the loom, a hopper adapted to maintainy a relatively large number of bobbins in stacked relation,` said hopper being mounted on the frame and having anl open bottom, means normally maintaining a full bobbiny in position to be transferred and means, actuated by the' transfer mechanism, moving said means normally maintaining a full bobbin in a linear path to a position betransfer mechanism comprising a` frame mounted on the transfer end of thel'oom, a hopper adapted to maintain a relatively large number of bobbins in stacked relation, said hopper being mounted on the .frame and having an open bottom disposed at about the same level as the transfer mechanism is positioned, means, normally maintaining a full bobbin in position to be transferred and drive 7 means acting subsequent to a transfer operation to move said means in a linear path to receive a full bobbin from the open bottom and again move said means in a linear path to transfer position.

3. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a frame mounted on the transfer end of theloom positioned at about the same level as the automatic transfer mechanism is disposed, an intermittently driven carriage slidably mounted on said name, a quill box having an opening in the bottom mounted on the frame over the carriage and maintaining full quills in stacked relation therein, a chuck device, carried by the sliding carriage into which quills are fed one at a time, carrying the quills to transfer position and a traversing suction nozzle which grasps the end of yarn from the quill positioned for transfer and maintains said end in appropriate position so that the transfer operation may be carried out.

' 4. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a pair of parallel rails mounted on the transfer end of the loom positioned at about the same level as the automatic transfer mechanism is disposed and extending from front to rear of the loom, a carriage slidably mounted on said rails, means driven by the loom which engage the carriage responsive to actuation by the transfer mechanism to impart intermittent motion to the carriage, a quill box having an opening in the bottom mounted over the carriage and maintaining full quills in stacked relation therein, a chuck device carried by the sliding carriage, into which quills are fed one at a time, for carrying the quills to transfer position and a traversing suction nozzle which grasps the end of yarn from the quill positioned for transfer and maintains said end in appropriate position so that the transfer operation may be carried out.

5. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a frame mounted on the transfer end of the loom at about the same level at which the transfer mechanism is disposed, a quill box which maintains quills in stacked relation and in alignment with the exhausted quill when in transfer position, chuck means normally positioning a full quill in transfer position, drive means for moving the chuck means directly beneath the quill box after a transfer operation has taken place, said quill box having an opening in the bottom thereof through which full quills are fed one at a time into the chuck means, said drive means being adapted to then move the chuck means and the full quills held thereby again into transfer position, a suction nozzle for grasping the end of yarn from the full quill and means for moving the nozzle to position the yarn so that a transfer operation may be carried out.

6. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a frame mounted on the transfer end of the loom at about the same level at which the transfer mechanism is disposed, a quill box which maintains quills in stacked relation and in alignment with the exhausted quill when in transfer position, chuck means normally positioning a full quill in transfer position, a constantly driven chain drive engaged by the carriage responsive to actuation of the automatic transfer mechanism moving the chuck means directly beneath the quill box after a transfer operation has taken place, said quill box having an opening in the bottom thereof normally covered by said carriage through which full quills are fed one at a time into the chuck means, said chain drive being adapted to then move the chuck means and the full quill held thereby again into transfer position, means disengaging the chain drive when the carriage has been moved into transfer position, a suction nozzle for grasping the end of yarn from the full quill and means for moving the nozzle to position the yarn for transfer.

7. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer -mechanism comprising a frame mounted on the ce l transferrend of the loom at about the same level at which theV transfer mechanism is disposed, a quill box which maintains quills in stacked relation and in alignment `with the exhausted quill when in transfer position, chuck means normally positioning a full quill in transfer position, drive means for moving the chuck means directly beneath th quill box after a transfer operation has taken place, said quill box having an opening in the bottom thereof through which full quills are fed one at a time into the chuck means, said drive means being adapted to then move the chuck means and the full quill held thereby again into transfer position, means imparting rotation to the chuck means a suction nozzle which is moved to a position adjacent the quill with a brief period of dwell for grasping the end of yarn from the full quill, drive means for moving the nozzle laterally and means disengaging said means imparting rotation and said drive means moving the nozzle when the yarn is in position for transfer.

8; An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a substantially rectangular elongated frame mounted on the loom in substantial alignment with the transferrer and extending from the front and inclined upwardly toward the rear of the loom, a quill box carried in the medial portion of the frame maintaining full quills in stacked relation therein, a sliding carriage normally covering the opening in the bottom of the quill box carried by the frame, chuck means carried by said carriage normally positioning a full quill in position for transfer, means constantly driven by the loom engaging said carriage after a transfer has taken place positively moving same to a position beneath the quill box and after a brief period of dwell returning same to transfer position, cam means opening said chuck to receive full quills one at a time when said chuck means has been moved to a position beneath the quill box, a first means imparting rotation to the chuck means to wind any loose ends tightly on the bobbins, a traversing suction nozzle, a second means imparting rotation to the chuck means, and means moving the nozzle adjacent the full bobbin to catch the end of yarn and then moving the nozzle away from the full bobbin to position the yarn for transfer.

9. An automatic battery for a loom having automatic transfer mechanism comprising a frame mounted on the loom in substantial alignment with the transferrer, a quill box carried by the frame in the medial portion thereof maintaining full quills in stacked relation therein, a sliding carriage normally covering the opening in the bottom of the quill box carried by the frame, a constantly driven chain drive positively moving said carriage means after a transfer has taken place, chuck means carried by said carriage normally positioning a full quill in position for transfer, cam means opening said chuck to receive full quills one at a time when said chuck means has been moved to a position beneath the quill box, a lost motion means associated with said drive permitting a brief period of dwell for the chuck to receive the quill prior to reversing to return to transfer position, a first means imparting rotation to the chuck means to wind any loose ends tightly on the bobbins, a traversing suction nozzle, a second means imparting rotation to the chuck means, and means moving the nozzle adjacent the full bobbin to catch the end of yarn and then away from the full bobbin to position the yarn for transfer.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Banks Jan. 22, 1957 

